Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Atlanta’s mass transit system, called MARTA, is using its Facebook page to dialogue with riders complaining about overcrowded buses resulting from service cuts. Riders are filing their complaints in real time while packed onto the buses.

One example:

I am on the 95 right now, bus number 2364, like 60 deep and we [are] still picking up people. Can we please do something about this route…?

And MARTA responds:

Hi Everyone. We have no money for employees to drive additional buses. Our Planners are painfully aware of the issues. We knew we were going to negatively impact some of our riders with these service cuts, and we TRIED to make the cuts hurt the fewest number of people. We are very sorry that you are crowded onto fewer buses that are running less often. But without additional funding, we can't run additional service.

This bleak response isn't just bad news for bus riders. If crowded buses make the trip too uncomfortable, and the complaints go viral, riders of choice will choose to drive, making your traffic worse.